Shloka 1153
नहि यज्ञों महानेष सदृशस्तैर्मतो मम । क्योंकि उस समय सेरभर सत्तूमेंसे गिरे हुए कुछ कणोंके प्रभावसे मेरा आधा शरीर सुवर्णमय हो गया था; परंतु यह महान् यज्ञ भी मुझे वैसा न बना सका; अतः मेरे मतमें यह यज्ञ उन सेरभर सत्तूके कणोंके समान भी नहीं है
nahi yajño mahān eṣa sadṛśas tair mato mama |
The father-in-law said: “This great sacrifice is not, in my judgment, comparable to those. For from the power of a few grains that fell from a measure of sattu—roasted barley flour—half of my body became golden; yet even this mighty sacrifice could not make me so. Therefore, in my view, this sacrifice is not equal even to those tiny particles of roasted flour.”
श्षशुर उवाच
Educational Q&A
The passage asserts that the moral and spiritual worth of an act depends on sincerity and the transformative power of even the smallest, pure offering; grand ritual display without the same inner potency is inferior.
A father-in-law figure evaluates a “great sacrifice” and rejects its superiority, citing a prior incident where a few fallen grains of roasted flour miraculously made half his body golden—an effect the present grand yajña failed to achieve—thereby ranking simple, potent charity/offerings above elaborate rites.